Company Reports & Accounts


By Roger Dean


J.E. Porter Ltd The company presented its full accounts for the accounting year ending 31 March 2020 on 12 February 2021. The company’s principal activity is described as the processing of animal feed. A private company with over thirty years’ experience of


manufacturing pig and poultry feeds, the company operates from a mill at Navenby, ten miles south of Lincoln. The company has extensive livestock operations which act as a test facility for any ideas or technical developments designed to improve the performance or welfare of stock. A large arable farming business complements the integrated approach adopted by the company. In the year ending 31 March 2020, the company reported turnover


amounting to £70.68 million, a reduction of £2.69 million or 3. 7 per cent compared with the previous accounting period. Direct costs amounted to £66.24 million, down by £4.17 million or 5.9 per cent; this resulted in a Gross Profit ratio of 6.3 per cent, a marked improvement on the previous year of 4 per cent and a reflection of the very high raw material costs experienced during the previous accounting period. The company also achieved reductions in its indirect costs, principally in its distribution costs. The high costs of feed raw materials fed through to the company’s


operating profits in the previous accounting year which amounted to £776,000 or an operating profit ratio of just 1.1 per cent, a ten-year low. In the accounting year under review, falling raw material costs and other improvements resulted in an increase in operating profits to £3.05 million, equivalent to an operating profit ratio of 4.3 per cent. Pretax profits, at £2.54 million were significantly improved on the previous year, resulting in a three-year high. The company’s controlling party is Mr. G E Porter, a Director who also acts as Company Secretary. The other Director is Mrs. K M Porter


Burgess Group Plc This company presented its full accounts for the accounting year ending 31 May 2020 on 17 February 2021. The company’s principal activities are described as ‘the manufacture of prepared pet foods, the development of building projects and the renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods not elsewhere classified.’ No breakdown by sector of operations is available. The company ‘monitored the ongoing Brexit process during


negotiations’ and put in place where possible plans to mitigate the identified risks. This included increasing inventories where there were thought to be ‘potential for supply chain disruption’. The Group took steps to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its operations and put in place appropriate measures to minimize the risks to the safety of its customers, staff and suppliers. As the Group is involved in


PAGE 18 MARCH/APRIL 2021 FEED COMPOUNDER


food manufacturing, it is classed as ‘an essential business’ and thus continued to operate during the initial lockdown and thereafter. During the period under review, the Group recorded sales


amounting to £21.02 million, an increase of £580,000 or 2.8 per cent compared to the preceding accounting period. Direct costs rose by £191,000 or 1.6 per cent, of which the bulk consisted of raw materials and consumables and other external charges. As a result, the company’s Gross Profits increased by £389,000 or 4.6 per cent and, as a result, the Gross Profit ratio rose to 42.9 per cent compared to the previous year’s figure of 42.3 per cent, a three-year high. The costs of distribution and administrative expenses during the


year under review rose by £687,000 or 8.5 per cent, a four-year high. As a result, the Group’s operating profit fell from £539,000 in the previous accounting year to £240,000, a decline of almost £300,000 or 55.4 per cent. The Group received a net £93,000 in income from investments and similar income with the result that pretax profits in the year under review, at £333,591, were £267,885 or 44.5 per cent less than in the previous accounting period. The Directors of the Group consider S G Roberts to be the


ultimate controlling party, by virtue of her holding in Burgess Group Holdings Ltd.


NWF Agriculture Ltd This company reported its full accounts for the period ending 31 May 2020 on 21 February 2021. The company’s activities are described as the manufacture of


prepared feeds for farm animals. The company describes its business model as a ‘leading national supplier of ruminant animal feed, the number 2 supplier in the UK feeing one in six dairy cows in Britain’. In the year under review, the company sold 598,000 tonnes of


product (560,000 tonnes in the previous accounting period) to 4,500 customers. The company generated sales of £160.73 million, £10.08 million or 5.9 per cent less than in the preceding accounting period. The company’s direct costs, at £154.69 million, were £9.63 million


or 5.9 per cent less than in the preceding accounting period while indirect costs, at £4.12 million, were £362,000 or 9.6 per cent more than in the previous accounting period. The combination of increased costs and reduced revenues meant that operating profits in the year under review fell by £804,000 to £1.92 million. The company incurred financial charges for interest but also


payments for payments from the sale of fixed assets. When these amounts are taken into account, the company’s pretax profits amounted to £2.43 million, £762,000 or almost 24 per cent less than in the previous accounting period. It should, however, be borne in mind that in the accounting year ending 31 May 2019, NWF Agriculture generated pre-tax profits of £3.19 million, a seven-year high at a time when the company was operating in a highly competitive market with upward pressure on raw material prices. Companies such as NWF Agriculture possess the market clout to maintain economic prices at a time of intense competition and to resist upward pressure on raw material prices, as the data on NWF Agriculture clearly demonstrates. The company’s immediate parent company is NWF Agriculture


Holdings Ltd. The company’s ultimate Parent and controlling party is the NWF Group Plc.


Comment section is sponsored by Compound Feed Engineering Ltd www.cfegroup.com


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